2015–16 LEN Champions League

The 2015–16 LEN Champions League was the 53rd edition of LEN's premier competition for men's water polo clubs. It ran from 4 September 2015 to 4 June 2016, and was contested by 27 teams from 13 countries. The Final Six (quarterfinals, semifinals, final, and third place game) took place on 2, 3 & 4 June in Budapest.

Overview

Team allocation

8 teams are directly qualified for the preliminary round.

Preliminary round Jug Spandau 04 Eger Partizan Atlètic-Barceloneta Olympiacos Pro ReccoTH Galatasaray Qualification round II Primorje Szolnok Radnički Kragujevac Vouliagmeni Duisburg Brescia SabadellQualification round I Mladost Spartak Volgograd Jadran Montpellier Verona Oradea Budva Valletta Marseille Orvosegyetem Waspo 98 Hannover Lokomotiv Tbilisi

Round and draw dates The schedule of the competition is as follows. PhaseRoundFirst legSecond legQualifyingQualification round I4–6 September 2015Qualification round II18–20 September 2015Qualification round III (play-off round)3 October 201517 October 2015Preliminary roundMatchday 128 October 2015Matchday 211 November 2015Matchday 328 November 2015Matchday 416 December 2015Matchday 53 February 2016Matchday 610 February 2016Matchday 730 March 2016Matchday 816 April 2016Matchday 930 April 2016Matchday 1018 May 2016Final 6(Budapest)Quarter-finals2 June 2016Semi-finals3 June 2016Final4 June 2016

Qualifying rounds Qualification I 4-6 September Twelve teams took part in the Qualification round I. They were drawn into three groups of four teams, whose played on 4–6 September 2015. Top 3 teams of each group advance to qualification round II. Key to colours in group tablesProgress to the Round II

Group A Tournament was played in Herceg Novi, Montenegro.

Group B Tournament was played in Valletta, Malta.

Group C Tournament was played in Tbilisi, Georgia.

Qualification II 18–20 September Sixteen teams took part in the Qualification round II. Nine teams from first round and seven teams with wild cards. These clubs formed four groups of four and had round robin tournaments at four host cities on 18–20 October. Top 2 of these groups advance to play-off (qualification round 3).

Key to colours in group tablesProgress to the Qualification Round III

Group D Tournament was played in Athens, Greece.

Group E Tournament was played in Hannover, Germany.

Group F Tournament was played in Rijeka, Croatia.

Group G Tournament was played in Busto Arsizio, Italy.

Qualification III 3 October 2015: 1st match 17 October 2015: 2nd match Key to colorsSeeded in qualification round III drawUnseeded in qualification round III draw GroupWinnersRunners-upD OSC Budapest AN BresciaE Szolnoki VSK Waspo HannoverF VK Primorje CN MarseilleG Jadran Carine Digi Oradea

Eight teams took part in the Qualification round III. These teams played against each other over two legs on a home-and-away basis. The mechanism of the draws for each round was as follow: In the draw for the Qualification round III, the four group winners were seeded, and the four group runners-up were unseeded. The seeded teams were drawn against the unseeded teams, with the seeded teams hosting the second leg. Teams from the same group could not be drawn against each other. The first legs were played on 3 October, and the second legs were played on 17 October 2015.

Preliminary round

Main article: 2015–16 LEN Champions League preliminary round

The regular season was played between 28 October 2015 and 18 May 2016. If teams are level on record at the end of the preliminary round, tiebreakers are applied in the following order:

Head-to-head record. Head-to-head point differential. Point differential during the Regular Season. Points scored during the regular season. Sum of quotients of points scored and points allowed in each Regular Season match.

In each group, teams played against each other home-and-away in a round-robin format. The matchdays were 28 October, 11 November, 28 November, 16 December 2015, 3 February, 10 February, 30 March, 16 April, 30 April, and 18 May 2016. The top three teams advanced to the final six.

The Final Six (quarterfinals, semifinals, third place game and final) were played in Budapest, Hungary from 2 to 4 June 2016.

Group A

Group B

Final Six Hajós Alfréd Nemzeti Sportuszoda, Budapest, Hungary

2015–16 LEN Champions LeagueChampionsJug Dubrovnik4st titleMarko Bijac, Marko Bautovic, Hrvonje Benic, Ivo Brailo, Cristijan Kulina, Loren Fatović, Javier García, Toni Jarak, Maro Jokovic, Filip Krzic, Luka Lončar, Marko Ivankovic, Marko Macan, Jacob Mercep, Paulo Obradovic, Nikola Pavlicevic, Pavo Markovic, Toni Popadic, Josip Vrlic, Felipe PerroneHead coachVjekoslav Kobešćak

Final standings

Team Jug Dubrovnik Olympiacos Szolnok4 Pro Recco5 CNA Barceloneta6 ZF Eger

Awards Player of the SeasonTop ScorerPlayer of the Final SixGoalkeeper of the Final Six Filip Filipović (Pro Recco) Denes Varga (Szolnok) 33 goals Felipe Perrone (Jug Dubrovnik) Marko Bijac (Jug Dubrovnik)

Total 7 of the Season LW Ioannis Fountoulis (Olympiacos)CFLuka Lončar (Jug Dubrovik)RW Maro Joković (Szolnok)LD Felipe Perrone (Jug Dubrovik)CB Milan Aleksić (Szolnok)RD Filip Filipović (Pro Recco)GK Marko Bijač (Jug Dubrovik)

See also 2015–16 LEN Euro Cup

References

External links LEN Champions League (official website)